Review of the Year Part2: Snap election, a terror attack, and Grenfell
In the second part of our series, Martyn Mclaughlin looks back at the highs and the lows of an eventful 12 months
APRIL
In a surprise announcement, Prime Minister Theresa May announces there will be a snap general election on 8 June. She announces that it is vital that Britain has “strong and stable leadership”.
The “national shortage” of teachers in schools across Scotland could last up to three years, internal government documents reveal, with 700 posts vacant.
A leaked email reveals Edinburgh Royal Infirmary came close to meltdown as 36 patients waited up to 17 hours in the accident and emergency department for admission to a bed.
A controversial UK government policy known as the “rape clause” comes into effect, forcing claimants to prove they were raped before getting welfare benefits for a third child.
Scottish Government plans to spend millions of pounds on a new financial institution that could become a central bank in an independent Scotland are revealed for the first time.
Britain marks its first-ever working day without coal power since the Industrial Revolution, the National Grid announces.
Four people are killed and ten injured after an Uzbekistani man drives a lorry into a Stockholm department store.
North Korea launches several medium-range ballistic missiles in a series of tests. The first reaches the Sea of Japan, while the two others fail after take off.
The American film director Jonathan Demme, who won an Oscar for his work on The Silence of the Lambs, dies at the age of 73.
British heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua retains his world title after a gruelling contest against Wladimir Klitschko at Wembley.
MAY
22 people, the youngest of whom was eight, are killed at a concert by pop singer Ariana Grande at Manchester Arena after Salman Abedi, 22, detonates a home-made bomb in the foyer. Eilidh Macleod, left,a14-year-oldfrom Barra, is among the victims.
The Scottish Conservatives more than double their share of seats following the Scottish council elections. The SNP win 32 per cent of first preference votes.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon says she is ready to push back the timing of a second independence referendum and that it will not happen until “the end” of the Brexit process.
A massive cyber-attack using tools believed to have been stolen from the US National Security Agency hits organisations around the world, including the NHS in Scotland.
Moors murderer Ian Brady, who tortured and killed five children with Myra Hindley in crimes that shocked the nation, dies aged 79.
A catastrophic IT failure causes days of disruption for 75,000 British Airways passengers .
Road safety campaigners call for more cycle lanes after a 24-year-old woman dies after she was hit by a minibus after falling off her bicycle when its wheels apparently became stuck in tram tracks in Edinburgh.
President Donald Trump fires James Comey, the director of the FBI, sparking concerns over the independence of the bureau’s investigation into links between the Trump campaign and Russia.
Emmanuel Macron, the pro-eu centrist candidate in France’s presidential election, vows to unite his divided country after securing a decisive victory over Marine Le Pen.
Chris Cornell, the frontman with rock band, Soundgarden, dies at the age of 52 shortly after performing a sold-out show in Detroit.
Celtic end the Scottish Premiership season unbeaten to win the title and match a 118year record held by their city rivals Rangers.
They win the Scottish Cup the same month, defeating Aberdeen 2-1.
JUNE
71 people are killed after fire rips through the Grenfell Tower high-rise in north Kensington. The victims include a family of six and at least three families of five, and range in ages from a stillborn baby boy to an 84-year-old woman.
Eight people are killed in central London when three attackers drive a van into pedestrians on London Bridge before launching a knife attack in Borough Market. The attackers, Khuram Shazad Butt, Rachid Redouane, and Youssef Zaghba, are shot dead by police.
The General Election ends in a hung parliament, with the Conservatives losing their majority but clinging on as the largest party.
The Tories gain 12 seats in Scotland, with Alex Salmond and Angus Robertson among the high-profile SNP casualties.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon delays plans for a second independence referendum, telling Holyrood she will not introduce the Referendum Bill “immediately” following the loss of 21 SNP seats at Westminster.
A £1bn deal is struck between the Conservatives and the Democratic Unionist Party to prop up Prime Minister Theresa May’s minority government. On the first day of Brexit negotiations, the British delegation capitulates to European demands, agreeing to suspend discussions on free trade until a divorce settlement deal has been reached.
President Donald Trump pulls the US out from the 2015 Paris climate change agreement.
A host of international music stars, including Justin Bieber and Katie Perry, perform at the One Love Manchester benefit concert for victims of May’s terror attack. The star-studded event is hosted by an emotional Ariana Grande.
Tim Farron resigns as leader of the Liberal Democrats leader after he was repeatedly pressed during the General Election over his personal beliefs on issues including homosexuality.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon leads the tributes to the former SNP leader Gordon Wilson, who dies aged 79.
Hillsborough police chief David Duckenfield is charged with the manslaughter by gross negligence of 95 people during the 1989 disaster. He is one of five people charged.
B illy Connolly is knighted in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List. The accolade comes 14 years after the comedian and actor was made a CBE.